Improved bolt-machine



ABRAM ALEXANDER, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IlVlPFtOVED BOLT-MACHINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 49,484, dated August15, 1865.

To all whom I may concern Be it known that I, ABeAM ALEXANDER, ofthecity of Pittsburg, in the county ot' Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machineryfor the Manufacture of Bolts; and I do hereby declare thc tillowing tobe a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming part ot' this specification, inwhich- Figure 1 is a front view of the swagingmachine for rounding theshanks ofthe bolts. i Fig. 2 is a front View of the same machine, i withthe front plate ofthe sliding frame and the coverings of the bearingsbeing removed. Fig. 3 is a diagonal section through the swaging-machineat w w, Fig. l, showing the boltblank before it is operated upon by theswages. Fig. 4 is a similar diagonal section through a: zr, Fig. l,at'tcr the bolt-blank is operated upon by the swages. Fig. 5 is asectional side View of the dies and lower parts of the machine when thedies are open and just before the finished bolt is ejected. Fig. is aside view of the lower parts of the machine when the i dies are open andthe hammer is at half-stroke after the iinished bolt is ejected. Fig. 7is a if side view ot' the steam chest and cylinder. Fig. 8 is a sideview of the heading-tool and fork and end oi' the clamp. Fig. 9 is a top`View of the fork which upholds the headingtool. Fig. 10 is a sectionalrepresentation of the adjustable stop for the bottom of the dies. Fig.11 is a front elevation ot' the headingmachine when the dies are closed,the clamp down, and just bei'ore the drop is lowered and the hammerfalls. Fig. 12 is a rear View of the machine, with the parts in the samerelative position as in Fig. l1.

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my improvedmachinery for 'making bolts, I will proceed to describe its constructionand operation. t

`In the manufacture of bolts having a round shank and square head adifficulty is experience inmakingasolid head with well-shaped cornerswhen the iron rod 'from which are made is round iron ofthe diameshankofthe finished bolt. It is all .to have,not onlya well-shaped headsolid. It is usual in making such e the iron which is to form the t, butalso to have a head that shall,

cool.

shank of the bolt bet-.veen dies, and to form the head by the means of aheader, which forces the iron by compression into a cavity in the die ofthe required shape for the head. The result of this process is that thebolts thus made are generally more or` less unsound lat the head andneck. i

To remedy these defects I make my `bolts out of square iron, theside ofthe square be: ing equal to the diameter of `the round shank of thefinished bolt, andI make the head by a single quick stroke of" adrop-hammer, which has the advantage of making the head more rapidly,Vand thus giving the `iron less time to As the iron rod from which thebolts are to be made is diagonally of greater diameter than the shank,(the iron being the size and shape of a crcumscribed square to the roundshank,) it is necessary to drawgout the shank in the process ot'rounding it, which makes a better shank than when the iron is `squeezedlaterally from a square intoa round shape. This drawing and rounding otlthe shank portion of the bolt (the part which is to form the head beingleft square) forms the first operation, and is performed byan auxiliarymachine. (Represented in Figs. l to 4.) y

In the drawings, A is a strong iron frame, quadrilateral in shape,excepting that the four corners are cut oi' to receive the fourset-screws c. 'lhis iron frame has a square cavity, in each of thecorners of which is a recess to receive the boxes or bearings b of oneof thefour swages c, by which the square iron rod is to be drawn androunded. These swages are of the shape of a sectorof a circle, as seenin Fig. 3, having at the center of the arc a short shaft,

d, which has its bearing-in the box b. The i curved face of cach ofthese swages has a groove in it of the shape of a quarter-circle, sothat where the peri pheries of the swages meet, as seen in Fig. 2, theyform together a circular groove the diameter of which is equal to thediameter required to be given tothe shank of the bolt. On two oppositesides of the frame A, at the edge of the square cavity in which theswages c work, are the slides e e, inwhich work the flan ges f f,projecting from the sides of the face-plate, g, and back plate, g', `ofthe sliding frame, by which the swages are opel ated. The face and backplates, g g,are con-1V nected by two bolts, h h', and they are situate`one in front of the frame A, and the other be,-`

hind it and centrally thereto. Their distance apart is a little greaterthan the length of the chord ofthe arc of the face of the swages, sothat as the sliding frame moves backward and forward into the frame Athere is a little lost motion-that is to say, when the front plate. g,is in contact with the forward extremity of the face of the swages theback plate, g', is a little in the rear of the rear edges of the swageso o, asin Fig. 3. The operation of these swages on the square iron toform the bolt is seen from Figs. 3 and et. The blank or piece of iron toform the bolt, being cut off the right length, is inserted through thecavity t' in the center of the front plate, g, and enters the grooveformed by the faces ofthe four swages c, and is pushed vas far back asthe swages will allow, the bolt beingl'arger than the groove at thetangential point. The sliding frame g g' is then pushed backward, thefront plate, g, causing the swages to turn on their axes, and as theyturn the groove of the swages draws ont and shapes the blfank, that partwhich remains in the cavityi ofthe front plate, g, being out of thereach of the swages, is left square, while the residue is reduced indiameter and rounded. The sliding frame is then drawn forward, but in sodoing the back plate, g', is brought in contact with the rear edge ot'the swages, as in Fig. 4, by the slide moving forward, and the frontplate is also moved forward a like distance, and as` the blank B is heldfast bythe swages, which have not yet begun to move forward, the head ofthe'blank is'relieved from the cavity z' of the front plate, g, and thislost motion otl the sliding frame causes the blank B to drop down clearot' the sliding frame and swages so soon as the sliding frame has pushedforward the swages to their iirst position. (Shown in Fig. 3.) Theblanks, when they leave the swaging-machine, have a round shank of theproper diameter and length for the finished bolt, and a square portionat the upper end, from which the head is to be formed in the machine,which is shown in Figs. 5 to l2, and which I will now proceed todescribe.

In the machine by which the bolts are headed,

l C C are two uprights, set parallel to each other on the bed-plate D,united at top by the capplate E, and in front by a cross-piece F. VOntop of the cap-plate E is set the steam-cylinder G of the hammer in avertical position, midway between the uprights() G of the frame. Thesteam-chest I is connected with the cylinder G, and the valve-rod k ofthe steam-chest is operated by the levers l Z l'. A bracket, m, projectsfrom\the steam-chest, and the valverod k, which ischased, passes throughwithout touching it. On the valve-rod are two screwnuts, n a, one oneach side of the bracket m. By these nuts a ,a being screwed toward orfrom the bracket m the stroke of the valve-rod cis regulated, andthereby the amount of steam let into the cylinder can be adj usted withgreat precision. The hammer is raised by the piston of thesteam-cylinder G and falls by its own weight, one motion of the lever Lletting on the steam to raise the hammer, and the motion in the otherdirection shutting oft' the steam and allowing the hammer to fall by itsown weight. The amount of steam admitted into the cylinder should not begreater than is sufficient to raise the hammer and work the machine; anyexcess only serves to strain and injure the machinery.

The hammer H is a heavy block of iron set between the uprights of theframe so as to work vertically between slides o o, and is attached tothe lower extremity of the pistonrodp of the steam-cylinder.

q is a lever at side of the machine, which operates a stop, r, whichpasses through one of the hammer slides o, and may be projected by thelever q far enough to stop the upward motion of the hammer atmid-stroke, which is the proper position for the hammer when the machineis ready to receive the blanks to be headed.

Under the hammer H are the dies K L, the former being fixed to themachine in an upright position, with its face in the plane ofthe axis ofthe piston-rod p, and the latter being hinged at its lower end, so as toopen and close against the fixed die. These dies, when closed, have acavity between them of the shape of a bolt, the square cavity for theheadat top, and the round cavity below, both f these cavities beinglonger than is the bolt to be made in them. A rest, t, is placed infront of the moving die, to prevent its being opened too wide. Fig. 5 isa vertical side view, in section, ot' these dies, and represents themopen.

In the bottom of the moving die is placed an adjustable stop, a, showndetached in Fig. l0, and of the shape of a small cylinder, with a shaftpassed through its axis. part of the shaft screws into the cylinder u,and the lower part of the shaft. is fixed to the cylinder. The uppershaft maybe removed and a longer or shorter one substituted to suit thelength of bolt to be made. The stop u is placed in a suitable cavitynear the bottom of the dies, the cavity for the cylindrical part u ofthe stop being longer than the cylinder, so as to allow it to moveupward about an inch. The top of theupper shaft of u forms a falsebottom to the cavity ofthe dies, against which lthe bolt rests, and thelower shaft of the stop u is held in place by a ring, x2, attached tothe moving die L, and extends vto the bottom of the dies, where it restson the wedge-shaped end of a bolt, c, which is inserted horizontallythrough the baseof the fixed die K and projects slightly from the rearof that die. 1t may be kept pressed backward a spring, s, in a cavity inthe die, as shown in Fig. 5, or by other suitable device. A drop-hammer,M, hung in the rear of the machine so as to fall at the proper momentand strike the projecting end of the bolt e when the dies are open,

as in Fig. 5, will force the beveled end of the bolt e forward, and bysuddenly raising-the The upper stop u will thro'w the finished bolt outover the top of the dies. y

`Near the top of' the stationary die K, just below the cavity for thehead, is a pin, w, the point of which enters the round cavity of thestationary die K, when pushed forward, by the spring o pressing againstits head. This pin w is to clear the bolt from the stationary die K andcause it to follow the opening-die L when the dies are opened. It ispushed back out of the way bythe bolt-blank when the dies arejclosed.The mode of operating the drophammer M will be hereinafter described.The moving die L will fall open by its own weight. when thrown a littleback out of the perpendicular, and is closed by raising a rod, y, at-

tached to a bracket, w, at the bottom of the die L. The mode of openingand closing the die L will be better` seen by reference to Fig. 6. Thedies being open, as shown in the tigure, and the hammer at half-stroke,the hammer is made to rise, and in so doing it draws up the rod y, abutton on the end of the rod being engaged by a bracket, z, projectingfrom the face of the' hammer. The lower end of the rod is pivoied to thefront end ot' the lever a', which is attached to the bracket a: of themoving die by a link, b', so that as the rod y is raised the moving dieL is closed and assumes a vertical position. After the hammer hasfallerl it rises immediately to midstrokethat is, to the stop T and asit rises a bracket, c', ou the back of the hammer comes in contact withthe end of the rod d', which is attached to the lever a in the rear ot'its center ot' motion, (which is at and thus raises the lever up to theposition shown in Fig. 6 and opens the moving die.

Pivoled to the lixed die K at its upper end, at e', is a clamp, whichconsists ot two side pieces.j, and a cross-piece,j, in front. The sidepieces are attached to each side of the die k, and when the clampispressed do'wn the cross-piece j passes over the front edge ot' themoving die L, when it is closed, thus holding the dies firmly togetherat the top. When the .dies are closed the clamp, having been held up theclamp-arms, pressing out the spring k i from its notch. In order tosecure the dies from opening under the pressure of the opera- 1 tion ot'heading the bolt, the clamp is forced down over the diejust previouslytothe fall of the hammer H by means of a drop, p', which is placed infront pf the hammer and works in staples, q', projecting from `the sideof the hammer. When the hammer is at l1alf-stroke, as in Fig. 5, anduntil the hammer begins to fall, this drop is held up by a spring-pawl,r', entering a groove in the drop; but as soon as the lever l is pushedin to exhaustthe steam from the steam-cylinder G the spring-pawl r ispushed out of its groove by the lever s', and

(see Fig. 8,) is placed with its shank just entering the cavity ot' thestationarydie K and immediately under the hammer H. It is held up so asto allow the moving d ie L, with the bolt-blank in it, to close by meansot a fork, (see Fig. 5,) which is pivoted to the cross-piece F in frontot' the machine at one end, the other extremity resting on the free endof a leaf-` spring, c, which is fastened on top of the stationary die K,excepting when the fork and header are raised up bythe cross-piece j ofthe clampj, which is situated under the fork. The prongs ot' the forkembrace theheadingtool, and the ends of the prongs are turned up andenter a notch at w on the under side ot' the heading-tool t', whichserve to keep it.,in a. vertical position over the cavity of the closeddies K L. As soon as the hammer H rsesafter the operation of beading thebolt, the clamp j is raised, which lit'ts the forksui ciently to raisethe heading-tool nearly butnot 'quite out ot' the cavity `ot the dies.YThe fork When the hammer is raised to theheight ot' the stop r, or athalf stroke, and the moving die Ais open, and those parts of the machineseen in Fig.5 are in Iherelative position shown in that figure. themachine is ready to receive the.boltblauk, which, having been previouslyshaped by the swagng-macbine, as alreadydescribed, :is placed in thecavity ot' theV moving die L, in the position occupied by the finishedlolt in Fig. 5, the lower end of the bolt-blank touching the rest t, andwith its square part resting in the angular cavity of the die L. Thelever q is then operated to withdraw the stop 1', and the lever l ispulled outward, which operates the valve-rod lc to let steam under thepiston'of the cylinder G. The hammer then rises up to full-stroke, (totbe position shown in Fig. 11,) but as it rises the bracket z raisestherod y, and thereby draws up the link b' and closes the moving die L.The hammerin risingto full-stroke also raises the drop-hammer M, the armw', projecting from the rear side of the hammer H, lifting the rody,which is attached to the drop-hammer M. When the dropham merM is raiseditpasses overaspringlatch, z', (see Fig. 12,) which holds it up.untilafter the heading-.hammer H has fallen and the dies are opened todischargethe' nished bolt. As before stated, the rod y, which is raisedto close the moving die, releases the detents ofthe arms m of the clampand allows the clamp to fall as soon as the dies are closed. When thehammer H falls the pawl r', being attached-to it, slides down the faceofthe drop p and resumes its position in the. notch in the drop, so thatwhen the hammer His raised again it carries the drop with it. Whenl theparts are in this position (seen in Fig. 11) the lever lis pushed in,which rst releases the drop p to press down the clamp over the dies,

and then reverses the valves ofthe steam-chest I and allows the steam toescape from underthe piston of the steam-cylinder G, when the hammer Himmediately drops by its own weight on top of the heading-tool t',forcibly compressingthe iron in the square cavity of the closed dies, soas to form the head at one stroke. The lever Z is then reversed, so asto introduce steam into the cylinder G, When the hammer rises to thestop r, the stop -lever q naturally hanging in such position as to pressthe stop inward and project it into the path of the hammer H.

As the hammer is rising to half-stroke the clamp, which fastened thedies K and L together, is raised by means of twolugs, a2, projectingfrom the front side of the hammer H, which engage a projection at theend of each of the clamp-armsm m. So soon as the clamp is raised to theproper height the Wedge-shaped brackets b2 I)2 push the clamp-arms moutward sufliciently to release them from the lugs a2, which pass up(when the hammer is raised for full-stroke) above the extremities of theclamparms m', and at the same time oneot' the springs lc passes under anotch in one of the clamp-arms m' and retains the clamp in itsposition.- As soon as the hammer is raised the heading tool t rises inthe dies, but not out of them, being lifted by the fork u. which isVtilted up by the risingof the cross-piece j of the clamp, as beforedescribed. The moving die is also opened, as the hammer rises tohaltstroke, by means of a lug or bracket, c', on rthe rear side otl thehammer, which, as the hammer H rises, engages the end of the rod dattached to the lever a', and throws the moving die outward, when itfalls open as before stated. A wedge-shaped projection, a2, attached tothe frame of the machine releases the rod d from the lugo as soon as thelever a is raised sufficiently to open the die L. WhenY the die L hasfallen open the rear end of the lever a is power otherwise applied; butthe method I have described is the most simple and convenient, and Workswith less gearing and a smaller amount ot steam than if a separatesteam-enginewere employed to drive the machinery.

Having thus described my improved ma.

chinery for making bolts, what I claim as my invention, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is l 1.- The use of sector-dies, operated andarranged, substantially as described, for rounding the shank ofthe boltprevious to the heading.

2. The combination ot the sector-dies or swages c, sWage-frame A, andsliding frame g g', for the purpose of rounding the shank ot the boltand leaving that part which is to form the head square, substantially asherenbefore described.

The combination ot' the drop-hammer,

griping-dies, and detached heading-tool, constructed and arranged,substantially as described, vfor the purpose of heading bolts while theiron is hot by a single stroke. 4. Delivering the nished bolti'rom thedies by means of the stroke of a hammer, acting in the mannersubstantially as hereinbefore described, on the end of the bolt.' v 5.The use ofthe adjustable stop u to support the end of the bolt-blank inthe dies and regulate the depth ot' the round cavity of the dies to suitthe required length of the shank of the bolt.

6e. The combination ot` dies K L, the clamp jj, the drop p', theheading-tool t', and hammer H, constructed, arranged, and operatedsubstantially as described, i'or heading bolts.

ln testimony whereof I, the said AB RAM ALEXANDER, have hereunto set myhand.

ABRAM ALEXANDER. Witnesses:

ALLAN C. BAKEWELL, A. S. NICHOLSON.

